Wrappers worn with slight loss to corners; upper soiled. Pages with small impressions to center of page from upper wrapper through ca. p. xii; small portion of upper outer corner of pp. 13-14 lacking, not affecting music; final leaves slightly dampstained at upper edge.

A very good copy overall.

First Edition.

"[Hindemith] started to work on the opera Mathis der Maler (1933–5), writing his own libretto for the first time, and placing the problematic relationship of politics, power, art and personal responsibility into a historical setting. The subject of the opera is the artist Matthias Grünewald, the painter of the Isenheim Altarpiece, who is led by his sense of social responsibility to give up painting and join the peasants in their struggle against serfdom during the Peasants’ War (1524–5). After being bitterly disappointed by them, Grünewald recognizes that he has betrayed the most precious thing in his existence, his art. In a visionary scene, art is restored to him as the obligation to paint. Although he cannot forget the experiences of suffering, nor his share of guilt, his memories add moral strength to his artistic expression. The final message, therefore, is that the artist who betrays his genuine gifts is socially irresponsible, however hard he tries to quiet his conscience through political activism... While working on the scenario... Hindemith composed the symphony Mathis der Maler, the first performance of which (Berlin, 12 March 1934) was an enormous success... The triumph of the work, however, led the National Socialists to attack the composer in the press... In October 1936... a ban was placed on all performances of Hindemith’s works... In May 1938, while he was being denounced as a ‘standard-bearer of musical decay’ at the Entartete Musik exhibition in Düsseldorf, the world première of [the opera] Mathis der Maler was acclaimed in Zürich." Giselher Schubert in Grove Music Online. Item #24687